WildView™

February 16, 2015

All “Ocelli” on Fashion Week

- as seen by -

Kristen Avery

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It’s mid-February and New York Fashion Week is upon us, with every designer eager to establish the trends for Fall 2015. At the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo, we have our own trendsetter.

Our male Palawan peacock-pheasant is always runway ready. Native to the Philippines, this bold bird has a strong crest (not the result of too much hair product.) His iridescent blue feathers create an eye-catching display used in courting rituals. He can fan out his tail like the more familiar Indian peafowl that roam the zoo, but he is significantly smaller in size. The blue spots on his tail feather plumage are called ocelli. For the Latin scholars out there, the origin of the term comes from the Latin word for eye, oculus.

Adorned in colors and patterns of timeless style, the Palawan peacock-pheasant pulls it off with flair.

Nikon D3

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